An Enchantment of Birds

Memories From A Birder's Life

In these delightful meditations, biologist and bird lover Richard Cannings weaves stories of his personal encounters with birds into fascinating descriptions of their behavior, anatomy, and evolution. He muses over the meadowlarks' ability to hide their nests so completely that he has seen only two in a lifetime spent searching for them; the trumpeter swan, as picky as a two-year old, devouring potatoes and carrots but turning up its beak at Brussels sprouts; the northern gannet, with its snowy plumage, black wingtips, and startling blue eyes; the little saw-whet owl, which dabbles in bigamy and even trigamy; and more than two dozen other birds. Covering the entire continent, from the cacophony of a seabird colony on the shores of the Atlantic to a symphony of snow geese on the autumn plains to songbird courtship in the alpine tundra of the Rockies, An Enchantment of Birds informs and entertains, in one fell swoop.

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Such a lovely read. I so enjoyed this book as I learned a lot about birds, their characteristics, and habitats, in an easy, delightful way. Biologist Richard Cannings describes his encounters with birds from when he was a child to today--not in a dry, scientific manner, but rather in a poetic, vivid style that gives the reader the feeling that his experiences with birds are joyous, sentient and emotional.